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Monday, 19 December 2016

Dubai: Day 2 - Aquaventure Water Park, Atlantis

So I realised that if I want to write about our Iceland trip (which is 3 weeks away!!) I should probably get a groove on and finish talking about Dubai. Blogger fail!You can read my first post all about Jumeirah Zabeel Saray Hotel here. So tell me, what was your childhood dream? When I was less of a child, more of a teenage (I think I was 14/15) I wrote a list of things I wanted to do. I wish I'd kept that list. I remember some of it vividly though:Wear a yellow prom dress (I wore the most beautiful, lemon yellow dress) Swim with dolphins So, it took nearly 10 years from writing that list but I finally got to swim with Dolphins!!

We arrived at Aquaventure Water Park planning to make the most of the rides before our dolphin experience at 2pm but the staff were super helpful and offered to move our swim forward, within 10 minutes we had our wristbands on and were waiting for a golf buggy to Dolphin Bay (because why would we walk??)We opted for the Dolphin Adventure which includes:Complimentary same day access to Aquaventure Waterpark30-minute check-in/changing15-minute orientation with a Marine Mammal Specialist30 minutes in the waterWetsuits and vests are provided and required while in the waterBottled Water / Soft DrinksTowels and lockers - we actually got given another towel after we'd changed and we rented a locker for the rest of the day.

The experience was absolutely amazing, we were with two adults and a child (children have to be 8 years to participate) and our gorgeous dolphin was called Blacky and he sung to us and we were able to pet him and interact with him while the trainers introduced him. There's a lot to squeeze into the 30 minutes, partly because the Dolphin is obviously still a mammal and will eventually get restless and fed up. But in that time we got to:DanceSpinKissBelly ride and watch all the dolphins perform at the end. A true dream come true.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the water park. Due to Andy's vertigo we didn't go on too many rides (I didn't fancy queuing too long with strangers) but we did make use of the The Rapids (I mistakenly thought that it was a lazy river so wasn't the best idea straight after a pizza lunch!!) which go all the way around the park and are a fun way to get around. I also went on the Leap of Faith, a 9 story vertical drop where I had to be pushed by one of the lifeguards to get me over the edge. I screamed so loud that some of the tourists stood next to Andy commented on it! I'm not sure it's an experience I'd like to repeat. Leap of Faith and Shark Attack are both meant to end in the Shark Lagoon (obviously, they're enclosed) but the sharks weren't in the day we visited, unfortunately.The whole day was a wonderful experience and the memories truly will last a lifetime.What is on your 'Bucket List'?